# 1985 Cleveland Indians season

The 1985 Cleveland Indians season was the 85th for the franchise.

## Offseason

* October 15, 1984: Jamie Quirk was released by the Indians.
* October 15, 1984: Broderick Perkins was released by the Indians.
* January 7, 1985: Butch Benton was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians.
* January 9, 1985: Dave Von Ohlen was signed as a free agent by the Indians.
* March 22, 1985: Jerry Ujdur was released by the Indians.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 99 | 62 | .615 | — | 54‍–‍26 | 45‍–‍36 |
| New York Yankees | 97 | 64 | .602 | 2 | 58‍–‍22 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Detroit Tigers | 84 | 77 | .522 | 15 | 44‍–‍37 | 40‍–‍40 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 83 | 78 | .516 | 16 | 45‍–‍36 | 38‍–‍42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 81 | 81 | .500 | 18½ | 43‍–‍37 | 38‍–‍44 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 71 | 90 | .441 | 28 | 40‍–‍40 | 31‍–‍50 |
| Cleveland Indians | 60 | 102 | .370 | 39½ | 38‍–‍43 | 22‍–‍59 |

### Record vs. opponents

1985 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 1–12 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 4–8 |
| Boston | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 4–8–1 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 |
| California | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 5–7 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 8–4–1 | 5–8 | — | 10–2 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 3–9 |
| Cleveland | 5–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 2–10 | — | 5–8 | 2–10 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 6–7 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 10–2 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 3–10 | 6–7 | 7–5 |
| Milwaukee | 4–9 | 8–5 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 4–9 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 8–3 | 4–9 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–7 | 3–9 | — | 3–9 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 4–8 |
| New York | 12–1 | 8–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 2–10 |
| Texas | 2–10 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–6 | — | 3–9 |
| Toronto | 8–4 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 9–3 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 3, 1985: Doug Jones was signed as a free agent by the Indians.
* April 19, 1985: Benny Ayala was signed as a free agent by the Indians.
* April 23, 1985: Geno Petralli was released by the Indians.
* May 7, 1985:Johnnie LeMaster was traded by the San Francisco Giants to the Cleveland Indians for Mike Jeffcoat and Luis Quiñones. Lemaster was made the starting shortstop. The previous shortstop, Julio Franco, moved to second base a position he had never played before, and Tony Bernazard benched in spite of his leading the team in home runs at the time. Bill James called these maneuvers 'strangest, most incomprehensible organizational stratagem in many years'.
* May 30, 1985: Johnnie LeMaster was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later.
* July 3, 1985: The Pittsburgh Pirates sent Scott Bailes to the Cleveland Indians to complete an earlier deal made on May 30, 1985, for Johnnie LeMaster.
* August 1, 1985: Bert Blyleven was traded by the Indians to the Minnesota Twins for Curt Wardle, Jay Bell, Jim Weaver and a player to be named later. The Minnesota Twins completed the deal by sending Rich Yett to the Indians on September 17.

#### Draft picks

* The Cleveland Indians drafted pitcher Mike Poehl with the ninth overall pick in the 1985 Draft.

### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| # | Name | Position |
| 2 | Brett Butler | CF |
| 14 | Julio Franco | SS |
| 27 | Mel Hall | LF |
| 30 | Joe Carter | DH |
| 10 | Pat Tabler | 1B |
| 26 | Brook Jacoby | 3B |
| 24 | George Vukovich | RF |
| 23 | Chris Bando | C |
| 4 | Tony Bernazard | 2B |
| 28 | Bert Blyleven | P |

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | AVG | SB |
| Benny Ayala | 46 | 76 | 10 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 15 | .250 | 0 |
| Chris Bando | 73 | 173 | 11 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 13 | .139 | 0 |
| Butch Benton | 31 | 67 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .179 | 0 |
| Tony Bernazard | 153 | 500 | 73 | 137 | 26 | 3 | 11 | 59 | .274 | 17 |
| Brett Butler | 152 | 591 | 106 | 184 | 28 | 14 | 5 | 50 | .311 | 47 |
| Joe Carter | 143 | 489 | 64 | 128 | 27 | 0 | 15 | 59 | .262 | 24 |
| Carmen Castillo | 67 | 184 | 27 | 45 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 25 | .245 | 3 |
| Mike Fischlin | 73 | 60 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .200 | 0 |
| Julio Franco | 160 | 636 | 97 | 183 | 33 | 4 | 6 | 90 | .288 | 13 |
| Mel Hall | 23 | 66 | 7 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | .318 | 0 |
| Mike Hargrove | 107 | 284 | 31 | 81 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 27 | .285 | 1 |
| Brook Jacoby | 161 | 606 | 72 | 166 | 26 | 3 | 20 | 87 | .274 | 2 |
| Johnnie LeMaster | 11 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .150 | 0 |
| Otis Nixon | 104 | 162 | 34 | 38 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 9 | .235 | 20 |
| Pat Tabler | 117 | 404 | 47 | 111 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 59 | .275 | 0 |
| Andre Thornton | 124 | 461 | 49 | 109 | 13 | 0 | 22 | 88 | .236 | 3 |
| George Vukovich | 149 | 434 | 43 | 106 | 22 | 0 | 8 | 45 | .244 | 2 |
| Jerry Willard | 104 | 300 | 39 | 81 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 36 | .270 | 0 |
| Jim Wilson | 4 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .357 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 162 | 5527 | 729 | 1465 | 254 | 31 | 116 | 689 | .265 | 132 |

### Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Jeff Barkley | 0 | 3 | 5.27 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 41.0 | 37 | 26 | 24 | 15 | 30 |
| Rick Behenna | 0 | 2 | 7.78 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 19.2 | 29 | 17 | 17 | 8 | 4 |
| Bert Blyleven | 9 | 11 | 3.26 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 179.2 | 163 | 76 | 65 | 49 | 129 |
| Ernie Camacho | 0 | 1 | 8.10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Bryan Clark | 3 | 4 | 6.32 | 31 | 3 | 2 | 62.2 | 78 | 47 | 44 | 34 | 24 |
| Keith Creel | 2 | 5 | 4.79 | 15 | 8 | 0 | 62.0 | 73 | 35 | 33 | 23 | 31 |
| Jamie Easterly | 4 | 1 | 3.92 | 50 | 7 | 0 | 98.2 | 96 | 52 | 43 | 53 | 58 |
| Neal Heaton | 9 | 17 | 4.90 | 36 | 33 | 0 | 207.2 | 244 | 119 | 113 | 80 | 82 |
| Mike Jeffcoat | 0 | 0 | 2.79 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| Jerry Reed | 3 | 5 | 4.11 | 33 | 5 | 8 | 72.1 | 67 | 41 | 33 | 19 | 37 |
| Jose Roman | 0 | 4 | 6.61 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 16.1 | 13 | 17 | 12 | 14 | 12 |
| Ramon Romero | 2 | 3 | 6.58 | 19 | 10 | 0 | 64.1 | 69 | 48 | 47 | 38 | 38 |
| Vern Ruhle | 2 | 10 | 4.32 | 42 | 16 | 3 | 125.0 | 139 | 65 | 60 | 30 | 54 |
| Don Schulze | 4 | 10 | 6.01 | 19 | 18 | 0 | 94.1 | 128 | 75 | 63 | 19 | 37 |
| Roy Smith | 1 | 4 | 5.34 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 62.1 | 84 | 40 | 37 | 17 | 28 |
| Rich Thompson | 3 | 8 | 6.30 | 57 | 0 | 5 | 80.0 | 95 | 63 | 56 | 48 | 30 |
| Dave Von Ohlen | 3 | 2 | 2.91 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 43.1 | 47 | 20 | 14 | 20 | 12 |
| Tom Waddell | 8 | 6 | 4.87 | 49 | 9 | 9 | 112.2 | 104 | 61 | 61 | 39 | 53 |
| Curt Wardle | 7 | 6 | 6.68 | 15 | 12 | 0 | 66.0 | 78 | 51 | 49 | 34 | 37 |
| Team Totals | 60 | 102 | 4.91 | 162 | 162 | 28 | 1421.0 | 1556 | 861 | 776 | 547 | 702 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Maine Guides | International League | Doc Edwards |
| AA | Waterbury Indians | Eastern League | Jack Aker |
| A | Waterloo Indians | Midwest League | Steve Swisher |
| A-Short Season | Batavia Trojans | New York–Penn League | Eddie Bane |